Stray
by Sky the wolfdog9
Summary: AU.  Toony's a 'stray', Lucas is his first friend from what Toon Link can remember.  Toon Link x Lucas
1. Chapter 1

**Ololol (yes that 'o' is supposed to be there before the lolol). Couldn't get this idea out of mah brain. I know that I've done one similar to this, but hey, might as well give it another go neh? Well, this will be multiple chapters mi amigos/as, but I won't update it until either 'Caged Bird' or 'Video Games' is finished. But there'll probably be an update every now and then.**

**Well, I guess I should list a few of the couples that'll be in here that I know of for sure:**

**Toon Link x Lucas**

**Nana x Ness**

**Uh, I guess that's it. So far. Uh...yeah. What else do I have to say? Um...I'm not quite sure, but I do want to tell you a bit more...**

**Ness: Oh my fucking -censored since I'm a Christian-, you're just trying to get the word cound up aren't you? Enjoy this intro/chapter thing.**

**XXXX**

Toon Link watched from the park bench as another blond walked along with his mother and, most likely, brother. He really couldn't remember much of his past. All he remembered was a really loud sound, probably a gun shot, and he ran from his grandmothers house. He ran far too. The next thing, he was sneaking around streets and stealing food from other people. It was all about stealth, something he had to learn through trial and error, and there was plenty of error.

Toon Link didn't notice that the other kid walking though the park with his family approach him until he was about ten feet from him. Toon Link looked up from the ground and into the other's eyes. They were a vivid blue. Very vivid. Like the sky. And the sky was one of Toon Link's favorite things. Toon Link could only muster up a smile. The other boy looked over his shoulder nervously to see if his mother was watching him. Much to his luck, she didn't and he handed him a bag.

"I see you alot under bridges when we drive around, you look hungry," The boy smiled. Toon Link's smile faded, eying the bag suspicously. He really didn't want to trust this kid right away. Maybe his mother was a police and they'd catch him someday. The other blond simply kept his hand that was holding the bag out stretched, waiting expectantly for Toon Link to take it. "It's my lunch, I'm not really hungry right now," The boy pointed out in an attempt to get him to take it.

"Thanks," Holy dogs, his voice was extremely scratchy. Had he not talked for that long? The other boy smiled as Toon Link took the plain white bag from his hand.

That was their fist meeting. And Toon Link soon thought that it was their last. Every now and then he'd catch a glimps of that boy in a car that zoomed by, probably too quickly for the friendly stranger to notice him sitting there, under a random bridge, munching on something he stole or just sitting there, rotting in his own loneliness. But Toon Link didn't know that every time, and then some, the boy would see him and hide a small wave so that his sibling, mother and ocasionally his friend, wouldn't notice.

Toon Link kept the small water bottle that was in the bag that day they had met. It was barely bigger than his hand, definatly smaller than those 16 fluid ounce ones. Kinda like a bite size Snickers bar. It was like a treasure to him. The other thing that he kept was a small key chain that the stranger probably put in there on porpuse. It was just big enough to hook around the hole on the collar of his shirt, making it look like a dog tag. The small piece of metal that was connected to the metal loop was cut to look like a puzzle piece. It was something Toon Link would probably fight for if somebody tried stealing from him.

One night, somebody did. The boy was clad in only a sweater and sweat pants along with kleets. That boy claimed that the small thing on Toon Link's shirt was his, but Toon Link knew well that it was not his. Toon Link had not found it, so it was definatly his. He didn't know if the stranger found it, but it was definatly his now.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Toon Link was rather familiar with a scenario like this. 'Strays' as he liked to call them, would fight over everything. Food, clothing, random objects, you name it. And he was familiar with how to fend them off as well. He had to fight almost once a day. If he was lucky, he'd get a two day break. Many ended up left on the ground to die. Toon Link hoped that he wouldn't end up like one of them.

"Hand it over shorty, it's mine, I lost it a few days ago," The boy growled, extending a hand, expecting Toon Link to hand the object over. Toon Link mentally scoffed. Like hell he'd give this thing up. "I'll count to three and if you don't hand it over, I swear, I'll kill you right here," The boy continued in an attempt to intimidate him. Toon Link rolled his eyes, this time physically to show the other 'stray' that he didn't give a care. His foe howled and charged at him. Toon Link always made sure to let them strike first.

Toon Link walked away from the boy who was lying on the ground, obviously struggling to stand back up and continue their brawl. He yelled at him, calling him a 'wussy' and a 'chicken', trying so hard to get Toon Link to go back and pummel him. Toon Link wasn't like that. He didn't have the heart to hit somebody that was already hurt and down. He simply smiled back at the boy and waved his hand as he walked off. That kid was easily fifteen. Toon Link was only eleven. In his opinion, agility beat brute strength any day.

Toon Link continued his treck across the world. He liked this city. It wasn't bad. Not as many 'strays' as the last and it was lively. Most importantly, the stranger that was kind enough to give him food lived there. How did he know? He saw the other blond one day on a balcony that was attached to an appartment building. Toon Link didn't know what he was feeling, but he was attracted to the other boys friendly smiles and kind glances. Unlike a few others that laughed at his homelessness and stuck their noses up at him.

After that fight, Toon Link looked up at that balcony and saw the other boy looking down at him, looking a little surprised before rushing back in. Toon Link was confused. Why did he go back inside? He sighed and ran his fingers through his rough, dirty hair, not knowing why he was still smiling to himself. If someone was looking at him at that moment, they'd probably think that he was crazy.

Toon Link was about ready to continue on his stroll around the city before the boy came rushing out, a huge smile plastered onto his face as he carried two apples in his hands. The boy greeted him and gave him one of the red apples. Toon Link, unlike the last time, gladly took the fruit and bit into it. The stranger talked alot.

"Anyways, what's your name?" The boy asked eagerly. He was excited to finally get this boy's name. Toon Link smiled and took a moment to think. He could barely remember what his name was for Din's sake. He knew that it started with an L and ended with a K.

"Uh, I think it's Link," His voice was still very scratchy and sounded unused. The other boy nodded and smiled again. Toon Link didn't ask the strangers name since he really didn't feel like remembering names right at the moment. The two sat on a bench that was by a buss stop, both enjoying their night snack.

"My name's Lucas by the way," Lucas announced once he finished his apple. Lucas tossed it into a garbage can that was a few feet away, immitating professional basketball players. Toon Link nodded his head and took another bite of his apple. He wasn't even half finished and Lucas was already done. The two sat in silence once more until Toon Link felt Lucas' hand on top of his. Toon Link almost pulled away, but didn't do so to not be rude.

"I like it when you smile, you should do it more often," Lucas chirped, smiling himself. He had been smiling? Huh, Toon Link didn't notice. "Whenever we pass you, you're never smiling," Lucas continued. Toon Link wondered, why did he have to smile? There was near to nothing good in a 'strays' life. Lucas' hand went up to the collar of his shirt and the small metal puzzle piece was lifted slightly. "Hey! You kept it!" Lucas hugged Toon Link. Toon Link felt his heart beat speed up a tad and he felt his cheeks flush a bit.

"Yeah, I did," Toon Link answered, slightly pushing Lucas away from him. He didn't like the feeling that was inside of him, but he really loved the feeling of Lucas hugging him. "Thanks for it," Toon Link added, rubbing the puzzle piece with his thumb. Lucas nodded, his smile still on his face. "Okay, hopefully I see you tomorrow!" Lucas chimed and pecked Toon Link on the lips before trotting off back into the apartment building.

Toon Link felt a fluttering in his stomach. It was fleeting, but he felt it. He smiled widely and practically skipped off. _Now_ he'd look crazy to somebody that was watching him. But he couldn't help it. He didn't know if it was okay for a boy to kiss a boy, but he definatly liked the feeling. Hopefully he would see that Lucas boy again tomorrow. He could only hope, because he didn't hear the loud noise of a car horn blaring until two bright headlights seemingly merged into one as the car drew too close. There was a snapping feeling and a burst of excruciating pain.

What had happened? Toon Link opened his eyes and saw that he was lying in the middle of the road, many yards away from a stopped vehicle. The person was inspecting his or her car before eyeing Toon Link. Thinking that he was dead, they leapt back into their car and sped off, luckily for Toon Link, swirving around him and not over him. Because he couldn't move. He would have to get out of the street right away. Cars wouldn't see him until it would be too late.

Lucky for Toon Link, somebody dragged him out of the street for him. Hopefully, it wasn't a 'stray' searching for revenge. Luck was one his side once more because it wasn't a stray, it was Lucas.

"Are you okay? I heard a car horn and I came back out and saw you get hit," Lucas explained, propping Toon Link up into a sitting position. Toon Link could only sigh in pain and rest his head on Lucas' shoulder. How could've he let his guard down so easily? Toon Link couldn't feel his left leg at all and his left arm was numb while his wrist was pulsing painfully. There was also a dull throbbing on the right side of his head. Probably from the knock back and the impact with the road.

Lucas ended up staying with Toon Link that night despite knowing the consequences he'd recieve from his worried mother the next morning. He watched over Toon Link as long as he could before falling asleep himself.

XXXX

**Oookay, yeah, I liked how this turned out. Toony got hit by a car, yes I'm mean and evil like that. Lol, just kidding, I'm no bully. I'm probably on the other side. The one being bullied. WHATEVER, let's not chat 'bout that topic, makes me depressed, okay, that's a little overexaggerated, let's say sad. **

**Well, if you've read my other stories, you know the drill, if you're reviewing, be nice, I stand on wobbly knees (self esteem's not the best). Well, I'll see ya en el proximo capitulo, somethin' like that, peace out my friends!**


	2. Chapter 2

** Howdy guys, Sky here and thank you so much for all of the love! Didn't expect this to get so much of it as well. :) So without further ado, enjoy.**

**XXXX**

He was a bit surprised when he woke up to find that Lucas hadn't left him at all. Toon Link had expected for the other blond to ditch him there on the sidewalk. That's probably what many others would've done, but he had been blessed to meet such a friendly kid like Lucas. The second thing he woke up to was a shooting pain that forced a small whimper past his lips. Lucas stirred before opening his eyes and sitting up in a better position, feeling horrible cramps all over his body.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, weariness heavy in his quiet voice. All Toon Link could do was stare back at him and try to ignore the pain of broken bones. He knew that he would get near to no medical treatment since Lucas couldn't just bring in a 'stray' to his mother and tell her to rush him to the hospital. The cruel world just didn't work that way.

He could feel the snapped bone in his left leg poke at his muscles while his left arm was still numb from the hit. Toon Link also took on a horrible headache and his spine ached in minor pain. He looked down at his broken wrist. It was black and blue all over. And swollen. Don't forget that. Toon Link tried to move, but his spine didn't allow him to do so, only creaking painfully in his back, effectively halting his attempts. Taking a shaky breath, Toon Link slowly and painfuly shook his head, indicating a 'no'. Lucas gave him a worried and sympathetic look, obviously not knowing what to do. Physical contact might hurt his friend even further.

"W-what should I do?" Lucas asked, looking around as if searching for some form of assistance. Toon Link answered with a hoarse 'I don't know'. Toon Link knew that he was likely to never recover fully from this unless some God out there spared his life and let him heal from every single wound he had earned from last night. Then he thought about the driver. That person seemed more worried about his or her car more than the fact that they had actually hit a person. Anger pecked at the back of his mind before dying away when his wrist began throbbing.

"I'll be back...I'm gonna go get some stuff," Lucas announced, hesitantly standing up and trudging off, looking over his shoulder to take a peek at Toon Link who watched him leave like an abandoned dog. Which he could also consider himself one as well. He fought over stuff with other 'strays', he slept anywhere that seemed comfortable, he did everything a stray dog would do. Toon Link couldn't remember anything beyond that loud '_bang_!' of most likely a firearm. Where was he when he had heard it? Why was someone shooting at him?

Toon Link continued to stare off in the direction Lucas had left, waiting patiently. Another dog thought came to mind. He had seen dogs wait at their old homes doorsteps, unknowing about the fact that their owners no longer lived there. It was sad, really. They were so hopeful that their owner would drive up to the driveway and hug them and kiss then, telling them how much they missed their dog. Toon Link knew that for many of those dogs, that day would never come, and that was really sad. Dogs will love you no matter what-even if you hit them, even if you yell at them, they'll still love you no matter how cruel you are to them.

Unlike humans. When someone would hit another, they'd likely hit back. When someone yells at another, a bond could be broken easily. Humans know when someone moves. They have other people to tell them. Dogs don't understand the human language, they understand the sound of 'sit', not the actual word, because if you say 'shit' or 'zit' to them in the same tone you'd say 'sit', they'd likely preform the command for you.

What was his old life like anyways? Was he happy? Or was he one of those kids you'd hear screaming in the night as their parents hit them? From what he's seen on himself, he assumed that he was a rather happy kid. Who were his friends? He didn't know. Maybe one of them would recognize him someday when he crossed another town. If that would ever happen.

Toon Link perked up when Lucas returned with two apples in each hand. Lucas smiled at him and sat next to Toon Link, handing him the apple. With his good arm, Toon Link gladly accepted the apple. Lucas looked a bit hesitant with what he was going to say but mustered up the courage to tell Toon Link what he wanted to say.

"H-hey Link...my mom...she was angry at me for not coming home last night..." Lucas started, fidgeting with the stem of his apple. Toon Link couldn't blame Lucas' mother, Lucas was apart of her family and so she would obviously worry about him. He could've been the one hit by that car. "So she's restricting me to the apartment so..." Lucas trailed off, not knowing what to say after that. Honestly, Lucas doubted that Toon Link could survive without someone like him watching out for him in his current condition.

"You either show me to her, or leave me here," Toon Link answered with a small smile gracing his lips. "I don't mind if you leave me here though, I've been though plenty," Toon Link stopped before he could say what he was about to say. That would've gone a bit too far. Lucas obviously grew nervous and worried about his situation. Either tell his mother only to have her possible send Toon Link off to some foster home, or leave Toon Link here with the high possibility of dying.

"There's no way I'm leaving you here," Lucas answered sternly. There just was no way. Toon Link could see it in his eyes, it was as clear as daylight, and that made him smile weakly. Lucas smiled back and scooted a tad closer to his friend. Toon Link rested his head on Lucas' shoulder the best he could, letting his mind wander. Lucas really wanted to stay with Toon Link, but knew that if he'd stay too long, he'd end up having his mother search for him. He was lucky he could even sneak out again. "Link, I have to leave or else my mom will go looking for me, I'll tell her about you."

Toon Link lifted his head from Lucas' shoulder and tried to get comfortable in his spot on the ground. Lucas stood up and gave Toon Link that hesitant look he got whenever he walked away from him. Toon Link just stared up at Lucas and again, watched as Lucas walked away from him, looking over his shoulder like last time. Toon Link smiled at Lucas' retreating back and leaned his head back on the wall, ignoring the sting from his spine and falling asleep.

_"Link run before he get you!"_

_ "Brother that man has a gun!"_

_ "Run Link! I'm too old, you too hon'! Be brave."_

_ "Grandma, I don't want you to die!"_

_ "Everybody has to die someday hon', today's my day."_

_ BANG!_

_ "Grandma!"_

_ BANG!_

_ He ran. As fast as he could. The anguished screams of the girl that was with him that day was fresh in his mind and would echo every day. There was a man yelling at him when he ran and then a few gun shots. Or he assumed they were gun shots. But what else could've they been? _

_XXX_

_ "Well son? You gonna go out there?" _Huh? Who did that voice belong to? Likely his father that he couldn't remember.

Toon Link opened his eyes and looked around. He wasn't in that alley Lucas had managed to drag his broken body to the night he had been hit by a car. Hm. He could hear Lucas' voice somewhere. Looking around, Toon Link figured that this was Lucas' apartment since the only other voice was a womans, likely Lucas' mother. Toon Link silently growled to himself when his brain registered a weight on his right arm.

Looking to his right, Toon link was surprised to find a dog snoozing right next to him, tail twitching as it dreampt about vast open fields filled with all the things it loved. Toon Link tried to pull his arm from under the dog, but couldn't when all of the pain returned all at once. He had to slap his left hand over his mouth, making his wrist pulse painfuly, only adding to the agony. The dog sensed his pain, woke up and leapt off of the bed, trotting off into the room where the voices were coming from.

A few distressed whimpers got Lucas to go in to check on Toon Link. Toon Link was frozen in his spot, hand over his mouth, him biting onto his pinkie and ring fingers. Lucas rushed over and gently lead Toon Link's hand away from his mouth and teeth. Boney, the dog that had been lying on Toon Link's arm, peeked over to the side of Lucas, tounge hanging out as the dog awaited his masters approval. The worried expression failed to leave Lucas' face when Toon Link slowly opened his eyes. He didn't know he had closed them.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, inspecting the bite marks Toon Link had inflicted on himself. Toon Link whimpered, a tear rolling down the side of his face. Lucas didn't think from there on and took the smaller blond into a motherly hug. Suprisingly, Toon Link felt no pain in his spine or left arm when he was embraced. Toon Link hugged him closer the best he could with only his right arm, just wanting to feel loved at the moment. Boney woofed, jumped onto the bed and began licking Toon Link's shoulder, letting him know that he was there too.

"It hurts," Toon Link whispered hoarsly, nuzzling his face into the crook of Lucas' neck. Lucas held the other blond securely in his lap, kissing the top of his head lovingly like how his mother would do when he or Claus were scared or sad back in their toddler days. Lucas' mother walked in and her eyes softened at the scene of her shy son being the comforter. The boy Lucas had helped last night, acording to the boy, was in a rather rough shape. His leg looked broken along with his left arm and his left wrist looked slightly crooked if one looked close enough.

Boney leapt off of the bed and trotted up to her, tail wagging as he snuffled at her feet. Now that she looked at the 'stray' a little closer, she felt that she should help Lucas take care of him, but then that meant that she'd be taking in another kid, and that was no easy task.

"Lucas, may I take a closer look at him?" She broke the silence and walked closer. Lucas separated with the other blond boy and sat on the floor, Boney happily hopping around him. Lucas' mother looked at Toon Link who shyly looked back with his captivating navy blue eyes. They were a shade of navy blue that was so dark they looked almost black. The 'stray' kid was skinny and petite for his age.

Toon Link flinched when she lifted his wrist as carefully as possible to inspet it. Lucas looked like he was about to jump up and stop her right there, but he held himself back from doing so. After a bit of inspecting and whimpers of pain, Lucas' mother shook her head and stood up straight.

"You're going to need professional medical treatment honey," She sighed, giving him a sympathetic look. "But don't worry, I know someone who works in that field," She added with the kindest smile Toon Link had ever seen other than the ones from Lucas. Lucas probably got his smile from his mother. "We'll get you there in a few hours," She continued walking out of the room to get ready for a trip to the hospital.

Lucas and Toon Link both sat together in a comfortable silence. Boney hopped back onto the bed and plopped down next to Toon Link, nosing his good hand with his wet snout. Toon Link pat the dog on the head before ruffling Boney's ears for a moment. Toon Link smiled a strangely sad smile as he looked up at Lucas.

"You know that you guys can't keep me forever," Lucas smiled sadly back at Toon Link.

"I know," Just the thought of Toon Link leaving made his heart ache.

"...Thanks for helping me..." Toon Link muttered, his smile becoming less sad along with Lucas'. The two slowly leaned foreword and locked lips, Boney excitedly jumping up and licking Toon Link's cheek, tail wagging so quickly that it wiggled his whole body.

XXXX

**Aww...that's so sweet *sniff*. Lol, I'm such a cheesy person and yes I am planning on having Toon Link leave, but do not worry! They will meet again! Well, I don't really have anything else to say except for thank you again for all of the love. I wasn't expecting it. ^^ Well you know the drill with me unless you're new, be nice if you're dropping a review by. So, I guess I should be saying peace out my friends!**


	3. Chapter 3

** Howdy guys, Sky here and I'm probably the main reason why the water bill is so high at my house :P. I'm dead serious, I have a habit of turning the sink on to hot as I get the stuff ready for ramen and that normally takes about three minutes. Then I do the same thing once the ramen's done being boiled. I leave the water on after I pour the noodles into a bowl and the pot is under cold water while I put the flavoring in, get some ice cubes (yeah, I use them to cool the stuff of a little quicker), and set myself a seat. So...yeah, I'm probably the reason why our water resource on this earth is deteriorating. :P Jk...**

**XXXX**

"Hey Luke, you daydreaming again?" Lucas snapped to attention when his friend Ness waved a hand in front of his line of vision. Lucas looked at Ness quizzically, earning a cocked eyebrow. "Remember what Ms. Aran (Samus) said? If you keep that up, you'll be failing big time," Ness gave Lucas a playful swat on top of Lucas' head. Lucas shook his head like a canine before straightening his hair out with his hands.

"Please stop that," Lucas politely ordered. Ness rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the white board up front. "And I wasn't daydreaming," Lucas muttered more to himself than to his raven haired friend. Ness heard Lucas' continuation and simply shrugged it off, his mind already set on the theory that Lucas had been daydreaming...again. The blond was lucky enough to get good grades, he daydreampt almost all day, but today was a little more than he normaly would. Lucas would never daydream during lunch and he had that day.

Lucas decided to stop thinking about his daydreaming and looked over to their english teacher who had completly changed after news about a shooting in a home had gotten onto television (which Lucas had seen and became a little paraniod about). The day the event was reported, there was a substitute for Zelda and the substitute had said that Zelda was off on a 'family vacation', which was obviously NOT TRUE. Zelda would not have been so upset when she returned unless something came up. Not minor upset, more like devastated upset. Their poor teacher tried her best to be cheery and/or normal, but failed miserably when she wasn't doing anything during work time.

"Now what are you daydreaming about?" Lucas looked up to see Ness staring at him once more. Couldn't his friend just leave him and his thinking alone? Lucas gave a quick 'I wasn't daydreaming' and again, Ness didn't believe him. "Right, and I did my homework last night, what were you 'thinking' about then?"

"That shooting."

"Lucas, I told again and again, it's not going to happen to you," Ness sighed in an irritated tone, slapping his forehead which was slightly disrespectful. "Now stop being paranoid about it and move on, you're mulling over the past again," Ness rested his elbows on his dest and held his chin. Lucas took his turn to slap his forehead at Ness' misunderstanding.

"Ness, I'm done being paranoid about that, I was just thinking about why Zelda was gone since the substitute teacher lied to us," Lucas groaned. Lucas wasn't one to act like this around other people, but that was other people. Ness wasn't a stranger. He was a close friend. "Besides, why would a teacher of all people lie to us?" Lucas questioned, crossing his arms. Ness could only strug his shoulders but it was a little uncaring which kind of ticked Lucas. Lucas, at the moment, really wanted to slap Ness, but he knew that that would earn him a trip to the principal's office.

And before Lucas knew it, he was 'daydreaming' again, but about something completely different. Ness could only roll his eyes and not point out that fact.

XXX

When Lucas entered the small apartment he lived in, he was suprised to be greeted by only Boney. Yeah, Toon Link was still recovering from his impact with a car, but Lucas slightly expected for the other blond to be sitting on the couch by the entrance. Lucas wandered around his small abode, searching for his injured companion, but couldn't find him despite the small size. Had Toon Link snuck out? But if so, how? Plus, the place was a little trashed.

"Boney, have you seen Link?" Lucas asked, looking down at his dog in concern. The brown dog wagged his tail and looked back up at Lucas as his answer, obviously proving a bit useless. Frowning a tad, Lucas knew that his mother was off at work, so he'd be alone on the search for a while. Lucas bound out of his apartment room and began asking passerby's if they had seen a kid about his height, blond hair and a crooked wrist. The crooked wrist kind of threw a few people off, but all of them had the same answer: 'I saw a kid like that being chased by a few other kids'.

In a panic, Lucas would thank them and ask a few more just to justify their answers. Lucas burst through the double doors and looked left and right, feeling like those people in the movies whenever they were in a hurry or being chased in an unfamiliar area. Lucas almost went as far as calling for Toon Link, but decided otherwise. Lucas was about to run off in a random direction in hopes that luck was on his side only to have someone run into him, smashing him onto the ground with a yelp. Lucas shook his head and opened his eyes to see Toon Link's frantic face as he scampered onto his feet, looking past Lucas.

"Stay there!" Lucas yelped once more when another person jumped over him and tackled Toon Link to the ground. Lucas was abruptly pulled to his feet by another kid and pulled away from Toon Link and his attacker. He watched in horror as the angry kid forced Toon Link onto his feet before punching him back into the ground, yelling angrily about something. Lucas was suprised that Toon Link could even run from this kid. Lucas came to the conslusion that this was another 'stray'.

Lucas felt anger boil up inside of him, but his body failed to display it physically. Helplessness was all his body language showed as the boy endlessly punched and kicked at Toon Link. Why was this kid attacking his friend anyways?

And just as abruptly as it had happened, it ended. The kids left, promising that they'd be back. Lucas was tossed aside and onto the ground like a worthless piece of garbage as the kid holding him left with a huff. Lucas pushed himself up and looked at Toon Link who lay on his stomach, his bangs covering his eyes. Lucas crawled over to the other boy and helped him sit up. Toon Link's gaze seemed distant and out of touch with reality.

"Are...are you okay?" Lucas knew all too well that the question was unnecessary, but he ended up aking it anyways. A tear rolled down Toon Link's face, but his mind likely didn't know that it was there. Lucas was heartbroken at the fact that he could've easily helped, but just stood there and watched Toon Link get abused like that. Lucas hugged Toon Link closer in hopes of getting his friend to snap out of it. "Can you please answer me?" Lucas partially begged. A few pedestrians cast worried glances at the boy hugging a near lifeless body, but walked on to their destinations, not lifting a single finger to help.

Lucas stayed in his position until he felt Toon Link hug back and start to shake lightly. Lucas wanted to say that he was sorry, but he knew that 'sorry' wouldn't be enough, Toon Link had just been beaten by another person and a verbal apology wouldn't be able to heal his wounds. Toon Link clung to Lucas and got himself as close to Lucas as possible. Obviously his crooked wrist was in pain while his healing bones had been cracked from the stress of running and getting tossed around.

"I can't stay here," Toon Link whimpered in his hoarse voice, remaining clung to Lucas. "But where will I go?"

"Home."

"I don't know where 'home' is," Toon Link answered in an eerily calm voice. It was shaky, but none the less calmer than Lucas had expected it to be. Lucas stood up and helped Toon Link up. There was no way Lucas was going to have Toon Link sent back to the hospital, but there really was no other choice other than to go back.

Lucas picked Toon Link up, knowing that anymore pressure on the already roughed up bones would break them once more. Toon Link was a bit on the light side, so when Lucas heaved the other blond up, he almost threw himself off balance. He walked in, and thought about what it would be like once Toon Link left. The other boy was bound to leave sooner or later wether Lucas wanted him to or not.

XXXX

** Lol, shortest chapter I've typed up in a while. This took WAY too long to make too. Little bro was playing Sonic Colors, so I was distracted by that. :P Well, you know the drill, keep the reviews friendly, my self esteem's not the best on earth. Peace out my friends!**


	4. Chapter 4

** Howdy guys, Sky here and my bed has just been deemed unsleepable. Lol, I let my dog eat her bone in my bed and now the stuff is all over it and there's probably stains in it, I'll have to vacuum it or something...Well, anyways, enjoy.**

**XXXX**

"Lucas? Lucas, you're daydreaming again," Lucas looked over to his left to see Ness giving him a concerned look. "What were you daydreaming about?" Lucas pondered on wether he should answer that question or not. It had been a few weeks since...He couldn't even think of his name.

"Oh just...thinking about when I first met..._him_..." Lucas answered quietly. Ness' expression softened and he nodded. Lucas stared down at his test. He had yet to answer one question and wasn't up to doing math at all. He missed Toon Link dearly and was in a depressed like state when the boy had suddenly dissapeared one day...especially when he still had a few cracked bones. Lucas sighed a shaky sigh and looked up from his test paper.

Everyone else had their pencils tapping and scribbling against the paper, the teacher was sitting at his desk , just enjoying the rare moment of silence in the roudy class room and Ness was giving him a worried look. Lucas glanced back down at the test and noticed that a few drops of water had soaked into the paper. He reached a hand up to his cheek and felt a moistness signaling that he had cried without noticing. Lucas vigorously rubbed the water marks away from his cheeks and wipped the tears out of his eyes, focusing on his test.

Three questions into the test, Lucas' mind drifted off to wether Toon Link was okay or not. He caught himself and went back to the test, focus not really on his side at the moment. It took Lucas a moment to realize that everybody was waiting on him to finish. Feeling rather embarrassed, Lucas rushed through the rest of the test, probably getting half of the questions incorrect. Lucas turned his test in and fiddled with his fingers, trying not to attract any more attention.

"Are you okay? You've never cried..." Ness trailed off, making sure to keep his voice as low as possible. Lucas side-glanced at Ness and shook his head slowly, indicating a 'no'. Ness placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder and gave the blond a sympathetic glance. Lucas knew that it was kind of PDA, but he decided to nuzzle Ness' hand and sink into his seat, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"I'm worried about him..." Lucas muttered quietly. It was quiet enough that Ness almost didn't catch it, but he heard it and didn't know what to do.

_It was a typical day at Ness and Lucas' school. It started with loud students, managing to always talk over the intercom, then first period, the disruptive students would piss the teacher off to no end, resulting in endless warnings and referrals after referrals. Then second period would come, again, the loud, disruptive students would piss of the next teacher. When forth period rolled around, Ness was greeted by Lucas' distressed behavior. The poor kid looked like he was going to have a heart attack right on the spot._

_ "Whoa, what's the matter?" Ness asked, grabbing Lucas by the shoulders and forcing his blond companion to look him in the eyes. Lucas just started talking a mile a minute, Ness failing to catch a single word he said. "Slow down and speak English please," Ness interrupted, tightening his grip on Lucas' shoulders. Lucas took in a noisy breath before latching himself onto Ness._

_ "He's gone Ness!" Huh? Boney? Or that...kid? _

_ "Who, Boney?" Ness asked. Ness really wished he hadn't said that, for Lucas immediatly separated from Ness and gave him a slightly angered look. Ness shied away from his angered friend, something he normally wouldn't do, but when Lucas wanted to, he could bring up the most intimidating look anyone would set their eyes on. Not because of his looks, but because the fact that he never really pulls expressions like that off. It was just scary when he did. _

_ "No! Link! That kid you hung out with last weekend," Lucas answered, furrowing his eyebrows. Ness didn't understand what Lucas was trying to tell him. Toon Link was gone, yeah he got that, but wasn't he a stray? Didn't stray's just leave and come back? You know..._

_ "What do you mean by 'gone'? Don't uh...'strays' like him come and go?" Another slip up. Oops..._

Ness had decided to go home with Lucas just to keep him company. The blond seemed like he needed it. The first thing Ness was greety by was something brown and then something pink and wet started lapping at his face. Lucas smiled and called Boney over to him to get the dog off of his friend. The brown dog wiggled over to Lucas, tail whapping anything within its reach, easily knocking a few things off of the coffee table. Lucas pat the brown dog on the head before walking over to Ness who was wipping his face clean of dog saliva and helped him up.

"Thanks," Ness smiled and looked over to Boney, his whole body endlessly wiggling from his wagging tail. The dog was all about happiness and love. Boney looked like he was seriously considering tackling Ness again, tongue lolling out of his jaws, giving him that dopey look. "Well Boney's happy to see me," Ness remarked, knowing that it was clear, but he decided to say it anyways. Lucas smiled and pat the dog on the head, earning a few licks on his palm. Ness looked over to the coffee table at the now messy pile of objects that had been swooped aside by Boney's tail and noticed a small puzzle piece shaped object connected to a metal loop.

"Hey, you found it!" Ness remarked, picking up the small loop and watching the puzzle piece made of metal dangle until it was swinging casually back and forth. It was one of Lucas' favorite things he had kept from when he was a little kid. Lucas seemed to sadden at the sight of the small metal object.

"I found it in the middle of the street," Lucas pointed out, taking the small object from Ness and observing it. "Probably from when he got hit by that car..." Lucas mumbled, Ness, only managing to catch 'Probably...hit...car...'. He decided that he'd ask later. "Well, are you hungry? I've got a few snacks here," Lucas offered, changing the subject himself. Ness pondered on that offer. Normally he'd eat a snack after school, so what was holding him back?

"Sure, you got some cereal or somethin'?" Ness asked with a wide smile. Lucas led Ness to their small kitchenette and opened a cupboard that held a few boxes of cereal. Lucas gave Ness the luxury of 'help yourself' and headed off to his room to put his backpack in its proper place. When Lucas returned, Ness had a bowl filled to the top with cereal and milk a spoon in hand. "You got a good taste in cereal buddy!" Lucas couldn't help but giggle a bit at Ness' 'addiction' to food. Hey, the boy ate a ton and ate like he had never seen food before.

"Well you're welcome Ness," Lucas smiled and sat down next to the raven haired boy who just shoveled the cereal into his mouth, Boney getting a kick out of Ness' messy eating habits, for a ton of food was dropped onto the floor. Once it hits the ground it goes to the hound.

Ness chuckled, "Boney could be the new Hoover Vacuume cleaner," Success. Ness had managed to get Lucas to laugh a bit with him. Ness then resumed to shoveling the cereal into his mouth, not minding that he was dropping truck loads of food onto the floor. The cereal wouldn't kill Boney. Lucas would pick a few cereal bits out of the bag and nibble on them, just enjoying each others company while Boney's loud snuffling and crunching occupied them. "You got any homework Luke?"

"Hm...no, I don't," Lucas answered. Ness grumbled something under his breath and returned to his food shoveling, mumbling something about math and english in between mouth fulls. Lucas swallowed his cereal bits and let his mind wander, already knowing where it'd go. He hadn't expected to find that small metal puzzle piece in the middle of the road, though, since it was so small, it was expected that it went unnoticed for those few weeks.

It took Lucas a moment to notice that Ness had finished eating and was staring at him. Snapping out of it, Lucas silently apologized, stood up and walked off to his room. Ness dumped the milk into the sink and placed the bowl with the spoon in it next to the sink, following Lucas. He entered the room and sat down next to his blond friend. Sometimes Ness wondered what went through Lucas' mind. He knew that that kid...what was his name? Whatever...he knew that that kid had probably been going through his mind these past weeks the stray had been gone.

"Do you think he's okay?" Ness knew who Lucas was talking about.

"He's a stray, they're a tough breed," Ness answered in his own kind of slang. Lucas smiled and turned the television on.

"Up for some Wii?" Ness smiled. Lucas already knew the answer.

XXXX

**Okay, uh...I don't really know what to say. So you know the drill, if you're going to review, keep then kind, the self esteem's pretty fragile here. So peace out my friends :)**


	5. Chapter 5

** Howdy guys, Sky here and I'm going to tell you now that I'm putting Caged Bird on hold for a moment since I'm going through writers block -Le Gasp!-. Yeah, kinda sucks, that's the second story on hold...**

** Well, other than that, I just recently finished TLoZ: Phantom Hourglass and let me tell you, that's one of the best DS games I've ever played. I loved the story and how the game uses practically every feature the DS offers (Like in one puzzle, you have to close the DS so that the thing could...I don't know how to explain it, but you have to literally close your DS! And it gives you a good exuse to yell at your DS :P), It's filled with pretty cool characters and there's plenty of humor in it, from beginning to end. **

** Lol, just broke my 7th DS so I went to get another (surprised my mother even let me with the 3DS coming out within four, five weeks, but I'm going to Mexico the day BEFORE it comes out TT TT). Luck was seriously on my side, there was a thing going on for when you give a DS Lite, you'd get 50$ onto the 3DS (40$ if it's disabled which mine were since I brought 3 DS's, but only got 2 in because one was so bad they couldn't take it). So yeah, I put in 80$ towards the thing and when I went over to get a used DS Lite, turned out they had the Legend of Zelda limited edition DS and I freaked. They also had Phantom Hourglass for 17$ which I'd been looking for a used one at GameStops all over the place only to fail 4 times.**

** Yeah, okay, before I enter a fully fledged rant, let's get this story going (sorry if the update's a tad late).**

**XXXX**

"Couldn't Boney just sniff him out?" Was Ness' first question when he heard that Toon Link had dissapeared weeks ago and it was shot down right on the spot. He really considered asking again, but decided against it. Boney was a dog, but not a very brilliant one.

He and Lucas were just hanging out together in Lucas' apartment once more, pondering or reading, nothing more. Ness didn't understand why Lucas seemed so attatched to that 'Link' kid, but he didn't want to delve very deep into that. It was Lucas' business, he'd tell Ness when he wanted to, though Ness couldn't help but admit that he was getting a little impatient with that matter.

Sighing, Ness shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed, looking up from a sports magazine and at Lucas. Another problem presented itself to Ness. He was coming to like Lucas more than a friend, though Lucas likely wasn't aware of it. Looking back down at the magazine, he shifted a tad more before stopping once he got comfortable. Lucas was also reading a magazine, but not a sports one, it was one of those dog magazines. Probably his mothers.

Lucas looked up and at the window that looked out into an alley. Every day he'd do that for some reason, having an empty hope that Toon Link would be there. And as always, he wasn't there. Lucas forlornly looked back down at the magazine, wondering where the other blond could've gone while in such horrible shape. Lucas doubted that Toon Link was still alive, but that empty hope made him still believe that he was living. It was horrible. Not knowing where the hell his 'stray' friend had sauntered off to, wondering if he's still alive or not. It was frustrating him, and his mother had started pointing out that he'd been showing signs of depression. He surely was NOT depressed.

"Are you okay?" Looking up at the question, all Lucas could do was change his expression to a confused one, meaning a 'what do you mean?'. "You looked kind of angry there," Ness pointed out, tipping his baseball cap to the side a bit.

"I'm fine," Lucas answered rather gruffly. Really, why did everybody have to worry about him whenever he physically displayed an emotion he doesn't normally feel around them? He can have his own feelings too. Ness gave Lucas a worried look before hesitantly returning to his reading material.

Now Lucas wanted to apologize to Ness. He didn't need to get so moody with his raven haired friend because of his own personal problems. Ness didn't have anything to do with any of Lucas' issues at the moment, so he didn't deserve to have to deal with Lucas' frustration.

"Sorry," Lucas muttered a minute later. Ness, again, looked up from his magazine, but not out of surprise. He smiled at Lucas and immediatly looked back down at the magazine. Lucas mentally sighed. He wasn't even in high school and he was starting to deal with teenage drama. Hell, he wasn't even a teenager yet, he was a pre-teen, not a full one. Wasn't all of this stuff supposed to hit him when he was fourteen or something?

"So uh...you gonna stay for the night again?" Ness looked up from his magazine for the third time at the question. Lucas looked a bit flushed simply by asking that question and Ness began to think that Lucas actually liked him back.

"Uh, I guess I could..." Ness replied, fiddling with the edge of the magazine page. Lucas smiled a very small smile and returned to his reading.

XXX

Ness practically suffered a heart attack when Boney began barking in, quite literally, the middle of the night. Lucas also seemed to go through a near heat attack experiance, falling out of bed with a jump. Lucas wordlessly stood in front of Boney, cutting off the dog's line of vision out of the window and softly shoved the dog away from the glass barrier. Lucas turned around and looked out the window, looking for the source that either spooked, or excited Boney.

With a sigh, Lucas announced, "It's nothing." Ness relaxed and flopped back onto his makeshift bed on the ground. The both of them lay in their sleeping spots, letting their hearts calm down before falling asleep.

XXX

"Have you two heard that the markets have been stolen from the past few days?" Lucas nodded his head in response while Ness looked slightly shocked at the news his mother had presented to them. "They say it's a whole bunch of sixteen year old kids, but I'm not sure why they'd do that unless their family can't afford it or if they're homeless," Lucas' mother continued, repositioning the newspaper so that it wouldn't turn into a jumbled up mess.

"Hm, I'll see if anyone at school as info on that," Ness muttered before taking in a spoonful of cereal. "Any other identifiable ages in the group?" Ness continued once swallowing his food. Lucas' mother remained silent, reading the newspaper article.

"Well, it says it's mostly sixteen year olds, but it also states that kids as young as eight have been joining in, probably siblings," Ness looked at Lucas who probably had the same idea in his head as he did.

XXX

That Saturday, Lucas had offered to pick up a few groceries for his mother. Simple, a gallon of milk, some yogurt and more butter. Lucas had Ness tag along with him and with a final warning of 'watch out for those kids' from his mother, Lucas and Ness were off. At least this would get two things done, getting a few necessities and checking to see if Toon Link was apart of the roberies. They had decided to come on Saturday because the amount of food the kids had stolen would only last them three days, so they'd have to come back and because his mother conviniently announced that she'd be grocery shopping that day.

"Okay, so we're gonna go there for two reasons right?" Ness asked, counting up the amount of money Lucas' mother had loaned them for the trip. Lucas nodded his head. Ness stuffed the bills into his pocket as the two entered the large market. It was bustling with activity and everybody seemed to be on a slight edge today. Lucas and Ness felt like they were on a secret mission or something similar to that.

Ness heaved the gallon of milk out of the fridge while Lucas went over to grab a few cups of yogurt.

"Augh! These things really weigh a ton," Ness groaned, taking the milk into his other hand, giving his already sore arm a break. He had strained it during baseball practice Friday afternoon, so he didn't consider himself in tip-top shape for carrying a gallon of milk, but it made sense since Lucas knew what kind of yogurt to grab for. Ness didn't live with Lucas, end of story.

"Make it quick!" Ness and Lucas both looked up simultaniosly, hearts speeding up as a very, _very_ tall fifteen, sixteen year old kid dashed past them along with a thirteen year old. They looked similar, so they were likely siblings. It was silent after that, making Ness and Lucas believe that that was it, but they were instantly proven wrong when three more dashed past them and two dashing off to the right in front of them.

"Hand it over!" Lucas nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned around to a switchblade pointed right at him. Ness twitched at the sight of four kids that were around sixteen, all towering over he and Lucas. He didn't defent Lucas though, for the kids intimidated him as well. "Are you deaf?" The next thing Ness knew, Lucas made a mad dash for it. Ness dropped the gallon of milk, making it bust open and spill its contents as he ran in the same direction as Lucas.

"Okay, I'm having a feeling that this wasn't the best idea," Ness panted when he caught up to Lucas who was clearly traumatized. To their surprise, the four kids hadn't followed them, but then again, it was probably because they both dropped the things they were holding. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Lucas answered shakily, taking a deep breath before jumping back when two eleven year old kids dashed past them, one almost bumping into Ness since he didn't jump away.

"Watch it!" One hollared over their shoulder. Ness was rather shocked at how many kids without homes their city harbored. They had witnessed thirteen different kids just run by, and there was likely more. There was a lot of threats being tossed around, easily audible from where Ness and Lucas were standing. The two looked at each other and went off to search for Lucas' friend.

The two had soon learned that two rival groups, not gangs, were in the store at the same time. The evidence was there. There would be a fight in between two or more kids almost every other aisle and clearly they were robbing from each other. The problem was, Ness and Lucas couldn't tell the difference.

Ness looked over his shoulder to find that Lucas had stopped following him, forcing the raven to turn around and search for his blond friend. When had Lucas stopped following him? Ness turned a corner and spotted Lucas struggling to fend of a tall 'stray'. Growling, Ness charged and tackled the young teen only to be kicked off, winding Ness and knocking him against the shelf behind him.

Ness opened his eyes to Lucas kneeling down next to him, one hand on his shoulder probably in an attempt to wake him up. Sitting up, he looked around, inspecting his surroundings before noticing that he had just been beaten in one shot by a 'stray'. Another thing he noticed was that the place was _wrecked_. Food products were strewn across the floor, carts were tipped, a few glass windows to the doors of the fridges were shattered and one shelf was knocked over.

"A-are you okay?" Lucas asked, helping his friend to his feet. Rubbing the back of his head, which had made an impact with the shelf behind him, Ness groaned in pain before answering.

"Hopefuly," At least he didn't say that he was fine. Lucas smiled shyly. "Are we gonna finish our second job or is it hopeless from now?" Ness asked, motioning to the wrecked mart. Lucas shook his head. They weren't going to finish the job they had offered to do for their mother. Clearly the cashiers had fled and the place was almost deserted save for the few people that were just coming out of their hiding spots.

"We're gonna go home."

"Did you see Link?"

"...No..."

XXXX

**Okay, here's chapter five. So I'll see you guys later, if you're reviewing keep them nice, peace out my friends :)**


	6. Chapter 6

** Howdy guys, Sky here and sorry for dissapearing on you so suddenly :( Got sidetracked, suddenly stopped using the computor as often as I normally do so blah, at least I'm here.**

**XXXX**

He never really was one to listen to the radio, but soon enough, Lucas found himself tuning into a radio station every now and then at spontanios times. It was normally music, but today it was one of those talk show like things. The person being interviewed was talking about how he had been mugged by a few 'stray' kids, talking on and on about contacting the police. The thing that went through Lucas' mind was 'Why can't you contact the police right now instead of complaining about it on the radio?'.

Getting fed up with the man endlessly complaining about 'strays', Lucas jammed at the button that turned the radio off and crossed his arms, huffing mostly at that complaining brat. School had just gotten out, meaning that summer was here and now he had nothing to do. Yeah, summer is great and all of that stuff, but school gave the blond something to do and the fact that he was landlocked didn't help much, he couldn't go to a beach, he'd have to take an air plane if he wanted to. Oh well, at least he was going to the Florida Keys in three days.

Looking over to his empty suitcase, Lucas thought about wether he should pack early, or just wait 'til the last minute. The pondering didn't last too long and Lucas stood up, heading for his dresser to grab some clothes for his vacation during a vacation. The cell phone resting on his nightstand interrupted his activity, calling for the boy to respond. Lucas let it ring, but when it continued to play the theme of Ocarina of Time, he decided to pick the nuisanse up.

"Hm?" Was his greeting. It was Ness, Lucas knew the raven was on vacation down south as well, but in Tallahassee Florida. His parents were driving there because they felt that it'd keep them from getting a huge dent in their wallets. Ness was probably only a few miles away since they just recently left.

"Dude, I really wish I could just go to your house and grab you, but since I'm stuck in a car, I can't, so I'll just tell you," Came Ness' excited reply. Hah, Ness probably saw a gang fight or a police man tackling someone to the ground, those were some things that'd get the baseball lover excited. "I think I saw Link, you know, down by that school that's almost in South Carolina? Uh, crooked wrist, green clothes...a _very_ bad limp..."

"Now I wish I was driving down south," Lucas growled, thumping his forehead with his fist. Lucas was surprised that Toon Link could even make it that far though. He'd think that the blond would just go with staying around town, but he didn't expect the boy to go off and travel with a poor set of legs. "Tell me if you see him on your way back north okay?"

"That'll be six days from now, but sure, I will," Came an optimistic reply and the line went dead, Ness had hung up just like that. Jeez, the boy acted like he was on a schedule while riding down to Florida. Lucas couldn't help but wonder if he'll see Ness in Florida when he goes despite the fact that he'll be in the Keys. Hey, who said they couldn't visit the capital of the Sunshine State?

XXX

Lucas stepped off of the plane and was hit with eighty-ninety degree weather plus humidity, that was something Lucas didn't enjoy. Grumbling something under his breath, Lucas entered the port, looking at the people waiting to board the plane he had just gotten off of. He was glad the building was air conditioned, if not, that would've been torture. Ness was going to leave in three days, might as well visit him tomorrow...

Why was Nana and Popo here? Gosh, it seemed that all of his friends had a thing for Florida, yeah it was a great vacation spot despite the humidity, but did they all have to go to the same state at nearly the same time? He didn't even notice the siblings board the plane, though that was probably because Lucas was near the butt of the plane.

"Dude, didn't expect to see you here!" Popo called, excitement clear in his voice. Still, it was nice to hang with your friends during a real vacation. Lucas and Popo did their little 'handshake', earning a head shake from Nana who soon after returned to her sudoku. "I'm off to the Marathon Keys, where are you going?"

"Key West, Ness is in Tallahassee," Lucas announced, making Popo's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates...no...beach balls. "Yep, you heard me, say no more," The blond interrupted before Popo could have a freak out like an overexaggerated teenage girl would do...like the ones in the overexaggerated high school movies. Lucas headed for his mother who was cuttently waiting for him, Popo following him despite Nana's calls.

"That's so cool, how long's he going to stay?"

"He arrived here three days earlier than we did, so he's leaving in three days," Replied yours truely. "I'm going to see if I can go see him tomorrow," Lucas continued, stopping next to him mother. The two said their 'see ya later's and headed away from each other.

"Hey mom, can we go to Tallahassee tomorrow? Ness is there for three more days," Lucas asked as he and his mother headed for baggage claim. His mother seemed a bit baffled for a moment, but snapped out of it quickly.

"Uh, sure I guess we could."

XXX

"Where do you think he'd be now?" Ness asked, popping a spoonful of chocolate ice cream into him mouth. The two and Lucas' mother had gone off just to have some hang out time, Lucas had told Ness that Nana and Popo were in Florida as well, Ness reacted similarly to Popo.

"I don't know," Lucas answered truthfully. He knew his states, but didn't know which ones were next to each other, normally that wouldn't be the case for Ness would be the one to not know that, but it was a hard task. "Maybe in South Carolina, maybe somewhere near there, it's only been three days," Lucas continued. Ness nodded his head, shoveling some more ice cream into his mouth. The heat and humidity was maddening, but they were well aware about the fact that they'd have to tolerate it.

"I'm sure someone could get far in three days."

"Remember that he's slightly disabled," Lucas pointed out, taking in a spoonful of ice cream himself. Ness gave his 'whatever' look (i.e. rolling of the eyes) and continued shoveling the dessert into his mouth. Lucas truthfully felt like crap in this weather, sweat trickling down his neck constantly, the heat making him uncomfortable and irritable. He wasn't sure if Ness was going through the same thing, but Lucas sure hoped that his friend was going through the same torture he was. He did _not_ want to suffer alone.

"Do you think he'll seriously walk until he finds the ocean?" Ness questioned, sounding rather serious for a person like him. Thinking about it for a moment, Lucas really had to wonder, would Toon Link seriously travel that far? Maybe, maybe not. The poor kid would kill himself sooner or later though if he kept it up without being careful. that was something Lucas didn't want to happen.

XXXX

**That was cut off a little too suddenly, but I can't do much more at the moment for some reason. Well, you know the drill then, be kind with reviews. Peace out my friends :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sigh, howdy guys, Sky here and I really can't keep up with all of this, plus, sorry for the sudden dissapearance. I tried to update bebfore I went to Mexico for spring break, but the laptop was having big ass problems with going to the edit story screen so I just let it be. Also I guess I'm suffering whatever Canis Lupus6 got a while ago, you know, the thing where you just can't seem to keep up with your stories? Not writers block, but it's similar. Probably just a huge drop in motivation for all of this. I heard that lack of reviews kills your motivation, but I'm not going to start asking for them, it's still your choice if you're going to review or not. **

**XXXX**

Horrible, horrible, horrible, that's how he felt. Horrible, right as he, Claus and his mother had returned from vacation, his health had gone down hill ever since. That meant that he didn't have to go to school. Normally a kid would be ecstatic for having a good reason to not go to school, but Lucas thought otherwise. He wasn't upset though either. It was more of a neutral feeling to be exact, teetering on the uncaring side.

Tossing onto his side, Lucas kicked the blanket off of his body quite literally. He was burning hot. Tumbling out of bed, Lucas stood and hobbled over to the thermostat, turning the knob to an unhealthy temperature for an abode. Coughing as he headed back towards his bed, Lucas was never able to get Toon Link out of his mind. Where was the boy right now? How far had he made it? Is he even alive? Not likely.

Lucas' thoughts were interrupted when Boney jumped up on his bed and woofed merrily. Sometimes Lucas wished that he was a dog, they were happy with the simplest of things and didn't have any worries except for other dogs stealing their food. Sometimes the thought of humans being too smart for their own good crossed Lucas' mind, but he didn't want to sound like a smartass bastard that thought he knew everything.

"Hey Boney," came Lucas' scratchy voice, feeling rickety from lack of use. Boney snuffled his face, coating his nose and cheeks with drool before circling a few times and settling down. Lucas had to wipe his sleeve over his drooled up facial features to rid of the uncomfortable feeling of liquid on your face when you're supposed to be dry. Boney looked up at Lucas with those innocent puppy eyes, simply watching his sick best buddy think.

XXX

Tears sprang out of his eyes when he was tossed against the wall to a building. The hands that were beating him pried him closer to his attacker, his face going a little too close to the other boy for Toon Link's comfort. The boy didn't say anything, just stared him deep in the eyes. Toon Link didn't know what was making the boy angry, but then again, it was normal to not know why someone else was angry when there isn't a clear reason.

Yelping out when he was tossed to the ground, Toon Link took a moment to be silent and still before looking over his shoulder and at his aggressor. The kid was about fifteen, a normal age for Toon Link to see anywhere in general. He had short brown hair and was pretty skinny for his size. But that was the life of a stray, you either eat today, or hope for the next day to go better.

"Why are you doing this?" Toon Link whispered his question, making sure to keep his voice calm. The teen's expression mirrored Toon Link's voice before he let go of the blond and stood straight. Toon Link stood as well, but with quite some difficulty before looking the other in the eyes once more. The first thing that went into Toon Link's mind for a reason of this attack was 'a territory problem'. Strays tended to make their own little territories if they've decided to stay in whatever city they've chosen.

"Territory," The boy answered. Toon Link was right. "You just got a little too far in," He continued. Toon Link shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk away, only to have his shoulder pulled, forcing him to turn along with it to keep his balance. Toon Link politely waited for the other to speak, not saying a word himself. "You're kind of young to be a 'stray'."

"I've seen younger," Toon Link spoke the truth. The other didn't speak after that and Toon Link took that as his que to leave and he did so. To be truthful, Toon Link was getting a little too used to being attacked.

Looking down at his crooked wrist, Toon Link's mind turned to Lucas and the question to why he had left in the first place, poor Lucas was probably worrying himself sick back in New York. Glancing up at a sign, Toon Link read 'Welcome to Tennessee'.

XXX

Lucas stretched his arms high into the air before letting them fall to his sides. He hadn't even known that he'd fallen asleep earlier. Boney was curled up to his side and it was either getting darker or getting brighter outside. Looking over to the digital clock, he sighed. It was only seven in the evening. He wasn't planning on pulling an all nighter since it wouldn't help his health at all...and why was the room so cold?

Standing on wobbly legs, Lucas trudjed over to the thermostat to check what he had changed it to. Holy cow, he had carelessly frozen his room, it was fifty five, why the hell would they even make that an option? It kind of made sense for a scorching summer, but still, it was insanity. He reached a violently shaking hand out to heighten the temperature and wondered it his mother noticed a sharp drop in heat when she had gotten home.

"Come here Boney," Lucas wheezed out, the brown dogs ears perking up like a pair of flags before bouncing off of the bed and over to his buddy, tail swooshing back and forth. A walk in the warm air of the city would help him feel better, it usually did.

XXXX

**Ouch, sorry if it's kind of short, but what the hey. Peace out my friends :)**


	8. Chapter 8

** Howdy guys, Sky here and as you can see, 'Video Games' and 'Caged Bird' have been ABANDONED. I sincerely apologize for the sudden decision, but I could tell that they weren't going in the right direction and decided to stop before they became something totally different. **

** So other than that, I have nothing to say except for the fact that I don't exactly know how to wrap this thing up, so...enjoy :)**

**XXXX**

Waiting alongside cars stalled at a red light, Toon Link searched for a good ride to hop onto since he was exhausted from travel by foot. The light turned green and the blond had no other choice than to jump onto the nearest vehicle, jogging along side it before hopping on, grasping onto the tailgate. People would notice and probably contact athourity, but Toon Link could simply jump off and continued his 'journey'.

The pickup traveled at a decent speed, not fast enough to whip Toon Link's hair in a frenzy, but not slow enough to make the boy want to walk again. About fifteen miles per hour was their current speed. Searching for more signs to give the boy a hint at where he was at was painfully boring, but necessary. Toon Link wanted to know how far he was from Lucas. Again, he didn't know why he left the other boy. He probably thought that he had a good reason back then, but now nothing came to mind.

Hopping off when the truck took a corner, Toon Link examined the quiet neighborhood. It was small, a few kids out on their bikes along with one person walking their dog, nothing major. Toon Link began to stroll away from the neighborhood, in the oposite direction the pickup went.

Lucas crossed his mind once more, becoming a rather large 'nuisance'. What was Lucas up to now?

XXX

Lucas tried to sit up, but failed, feeling an unbelievably heavy object sprawled out on his chest. Cracking an eye open, Lucas found Boney merrily licking his paw whilst spread out ontop of his owner. Lucas gave a quiet 'morning' and pat the canine on the head, earning a happy lick in return. Boney stood and settled next to Lucas, but not ontop of him now, allowing the blond the sit up right.

Lucas did so, but remained silent and still once doing so. He still felt lonely without Toon Link there. Boney seemed to have noticed Lucas' behavior and nuzzled the young boy on the cheek, tail wagging slowly. Lucas sighed, pat Boney atop the head once more before standing up and heading for the tiny kitchen their apartment room harbored.

It was currently 9:43 in the morning, Lucas wasn't feeling very sick anymore and it was Saturday. It was funny how Lucas always looked foreward to Saturday only to be plagued by extreme boredom once it rolled around the corner. Lucas settled with starting the day with a bowl of Froot Loops.

Hearing the tinkle of food hitting a bowl, Boney sprung up from his spot on Lucas' bed and bounded into the small kitchen in hopes of getting some human food. Human food was great! Lucas looked down at the brown dog and dropped a few fruity tasting bits of cereal on the ground, watching as Boney snuffled them up. Might as well take Boney out for a walk as well.

Lucas and Ness had met outside of a GameStop just to loiter and chat until the 'fuzz' arrived since there was a sign clearly stating 'NO LOITERING' in bold, bright red letters. The two didn't get why they put a sign like that in a place like this, but ignored the 'threatening' sign staring them in the faces.

"So, you gonna get something or what? The police would come sooner or later," Ness stated, motioning to the sign after voicing his question. Lucas could only shrug and then shake his head. He didn't have any money on him, so why go in? He didn't exactly feel like browsing today...

"Don't got any money with me," Lucas answered, watching as people gave them strange looks. A few young kids loitering around a 'NO LOITERING' sign would definatly catch some attention. "Besides, even if I did, I still wouldn't have enough for a game," Lucas continued with a shrug of his shoulders.

Ness quirked an eyebrow. "Come now buddy, you've been acting differently ever since that Link kid left, leave it be, he's gone," Lucas quirked an eyebrow himself. Ness sounded kind of peeved whenever he mentioned Toon Link, why was that? There was nothing wrong with Toon Link. Just because he was a stray dind't mean that you could hate on him just like that.

"So what? Why does it matter to you?" Lucas challanged, crossing his arms before being tugged off balance by Boney. Ness furrowed his eyebrows before grabbing Lucas by the sleeve a bit roughly.

"Because that kid's a 'stray', he's probably been hardened by the street life and was playing it safe by acting," Ness answered. The baseball bearer seemed to be going a bit over board with what he had just said. Toon Link wasn't acting, Lucas was sure. The other blond was probably the most honest person Lucas had ever met in his whole life so far.

"I don't believe you," Lucas bluntly remarked, seeming to get Ness a tad pissed at the blond. "That's kind of stereotypical isn't it?" Lucas added, raising his eyebrow for the second time. Ness seemed rather stumped for a moment before turning around and crossing his arms. Ness would never harm Lucas and even so, Lucas had Boney. Yeah the dog was kind of clumsy and sort of a lumox, but from what Lucas had seen when he was six, that dog could really hurt someone.

Lucas heard Ness sigh and the raven began to walk away. Lucas was shocked at the action and quickly followed his friend, wanting to know what made Ness make that decision.

"What's wrong?"  
"Everything," Ness answered, his expression being one of longing and loneliness. Lucas was puzzled as to why Ness had the sudden mood swing and placed a hand on his friends shoulder only to have it shrugged off.

"Well what do you mean by everything?"

"My mom and dad are being divorced, you're suddenly different and the fact that I love you doesn't help anything," Ness mumbled, eyes locked on the pavement below him. He didn't notice that Lucas had stopped in his tracks out of shock from what Ness had just said.

"Uh...huh?"

XXXX

**SHORT. Again this ended up short. Well, I don't have anything else to say, so peace out my friends :)**


	9. Chapter 9

** Howdy guys, Sky here and I apologize for the huge delay. I've got no excuse and I blame nobody other than myself. I'm stalling...**

**XXXX**

He had to find Toon Link. The fact that the other blond could be dead ate at him and it drove him crazy. Why did he run away again? Lucas would have to ask. But another thing that was eating at him was what Ness had said to him last week. Did the raven haired boy truely love him or was it a puppy love kind of thing? Thinking about it, he and Toon Link could probably just have puppy love in between them. That kind of scared Lucas.

He didn't want to seem like he was running away by looking for Toon Link, so Lucas had asked his mother if she could help him with looking for the other blond boy. She looked concerned for a moment before agreeing to help her son.

XXX

Toon Link shivered, for spring, Minnesota didn't feel very warm or...springy...hell there was still snow piled up to his ankles. It was April for Din's sake! Shaking the snowflakes out of his hair, Toon Link sat down to rest on a park bench. Close to nobody was outside and he had nowhere to go. He really hoped that he was moving south, if he went any farther north, Toon Link was sure that he'd kill himself.

"Hey kid, where are you from?" looking up, Toon Link stared a tall twenty something year old man. He looked friendly.

"Don't know," Toon Link shivered, rubbing his arms. He wished that he had a winter jacket like the guy did..."Came from New York two months ago," Toon Link mumbled, rubbing his running nose. Ugh, the cold was making him feel funny.

"You don't look so good, why don't you come crash at my place?" The man offered. The 'don't talk to strangers' your parents always told you didn't exactly sound right to Toon Link. Talking to strangers was how you made friedns. "I promise, it's not too far," the man continued, helping Toon Link stand. "How old are you?"

"E-eleven," Toon Link's voice was close to a whisper, the puff of steam escaping his mouth looked like a cloud it was so thick. "I'm eleven," Toon Link continued with another shiver quaking his small body. The stranger nodded and lead Toon Link away from the cold park bench.

It was a small apartment building, but it was warm and cozy. Toon Link sat in the middle of the full sized bed, sniffling every now and then since his nose had become horribly runny. That was annoying. The man was kind, he offered hot chocolate the second they entered his small abode, Toon Link taking the offer greatfully. The eleven year old didn't mind the painful burn from the fresh hot chocolate, he just wanted something warm to help himself heat up. Minnesota sucked. **(A/N: I have nothing against Minnesota, I live there.)**

"You okay kid?" The young man asked as he collected the empty mug. Toon Link nodded and pulled his knees to his chest, the exhaustion finally catching up to him. His eye lids suddenly felt ten pounds heavier along with his whole body. He didn't like the idea of sleeping in a strangers house, but he guessed that he could crash here for tonight...

Toon Link cracked an eye open to see the man sitting in a reclining chair, staring at the television. Sniffling, he pulled the covers further over his head so that he was fully submersed in blankets. Toon Link was comfortable right there. Now if only Lucas was here to cuddle with...

His cheecks burst into a bright red at the thought and he suddenly felt ten degrees hotter like how he felt ted pounds heavier yesterday night. It was night time when he fell asleep right? Whatever. He placed his cold hands on his burning cheecks, nuzzling the pillow. He couldn't be thinking about Lucas now. Toon Link was headed...somewhere...he didn't know, but hopefully he found a place that he could settle down in. Minnesota was definately not the place. He heard that Seattle was okay...

"You up?" Toon Link peeked out from under the blankets, hoping that his face wasn't red anymore before timidly nodding. The guy smiled, "you can stay as long as you want, you can leave whenever you want," Toon Link liked his options. Stay for as long as he desired, leave whenever he desired. Excellent. Toon Link nodded greatfully and hid back under the covers, hoping that he could at least get at most two more hours of sleep in.

XXX

Lucas had finished asking. Toon Link was definatly not in New York anymore. He should've known better that the blond wouldn't come back. Ness had seen him near South Carolina two weeks ago, the boy was obviously far away. Very far away. Maybe he should just give up...wait for him to come back...

"Quit moping about it, he'll come back sooner or later," Ness reassured. Lucas knew that Ness hoped that Toon Link never came back, but still supported Lucas none the less. Why would Ness hate him just for liking someone else? "It may be in a few years, but...what the hay? You'll see him again."

"Hopefully," Lucas muttered, lightly pushing Ness away from him. Ness have him a concerned look before crossing his arms and sauntered off to chat with Popo. Lucas was left to think to himself. Was he acting like a total jerk simply because of Toon Link's dissapearance? That didn't seem very fair. "Ness?"

"Hm?" Ness turned to look over his shoulder, giving Lucas a questioning look.

"Sorry for being such a jerk," Lucas gave a weak smile. "And thanks for putting up with it," Lucas continued, approaching his friend and hugging him from behind. Lucas walked off to his next class, leaving Ness to ponder what had just happened. Lucas was opening up to him. Was that good? Hopefully. Hah, that word's been thrown around so much ever since that Toon Link left Lucas. Ness concluded that it wasn't Lucas acting like a jerk, it was Toon Link. The boy ditched Lucas without a word. Now that was a jerk move.

"You're welcome," Ness muttered even though Lucas was long gone.

XXXX

**Okay, I should get this wrapped up in a few chapters hopefully. Well, if you're reviewing, keep them nice. Peace out my friends :)**


	10. Chapter 10

** Oh man, I'm so sorry for forgetting about this story D: It just disappeared and I forgot that it was still in progress…Well, I've finally updated, and this will be the last chapter (sadly). It may seem rushed too…**

**XXXX**

Two years had passed ever since all of the drama Toon Link had created had happened, though the green clad 'stray' blond was constantly on Lucas' mind, his hope never died.

"Dude," Lucas snapped to attention, turning to face Ness who smiled. "Quit zoning out, you can't exactly do that in high school," Ness continued. Ah, that again. Ness, Lucas and all of his other friends were starting high school after this summer. It wasn't exactly the coolest thought, though Lucas was excited for the new experience.

"Nah, I can't exactly be thinking about school yet, summer just started," with a smile, Lucas nodded for Ness to toss the baseball. The two were determined to get on the baseball team for high school. Ness wanted to be a big league baseball star while Lucas preferred the thought of being a little league coach. Ness tossed the ball in a nice arc and Lucas followed up with swinging the bat, getting a good 'crack' from the impact. Ness stood up straight and placed his hand over his eyes to block out the sun, watching as the ball flew across the park and into the far off playground.

"You gonna get that?" he questioned, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. Lucas rolled his eyes and walked in the direction where the ball had landed. It was quite the walk, and they wouldn't be returning to their practice for a good fifteen minutes.

Lucas waved at a parent who had picked up the sports ball. With a nod, the dad tossed the ball, Lucas catching it effortlessly. The two friends turned to walk back to the baseball diamond.

"So, where you going for summer vacation? I'm off to Texas, can't wait," Ness beamed. Ness was off to Texas in about a week, he said that he'd get Lucas a souvenir, though the blond had turned it down. Ness was still planning on getting his best friend something.

"Ah, I'm off to California, not exactly looking forward to going to the beach…"

"Dude, Lucas, you're the _only_ person I know that hates the beach," Ness chuckled, stopping at the pitcher's mound, Lucas continuing to home base.

Tossing the baseball to Ness, Lucas got into a proper batting stance, waiting for Ness to pitch. The raven did and Lucas swung at it, sending it low this time. They didn't have to leave the diamond to retrieve the ball.

XXX

"Lucas, let's go, Claus is already prepared," Lucas hastily zipped the suitcase closed before carrying it off to the small kitchen.

"Mom, I'm ready," she nodded and they were off.

Lucas couldn't say that the plane ride was bad, but he got air sick or whatever it was called. It wasn't a great thought about the fact that California was all the way across the country from New York. He and Claus would try to entertain themselves, though, Lucas' sickness would constantly cut their games short. Finally, Lucas resorted to taking a nap, whether it helped or not.

Lucas was shaken awake by Claus. His brother said something about being there, but Lucas didn't care. All he just wanted to do was sleep some more, he could've stayed on the plane all day, but that wasn't exactly possible.

Lucas, his mother and brother arrived at their hotel, checked in and spent the rest of the day either on the beach or in their hotel room, lounging around for the first day. With the time change, they all went to bed at seemingly early times.

XXX

This was something Lucas liked. Walking around a populated city at night, it was great, the weather was perfect, not too many people and just the place itself. They decided to eat out at a small restaurant that resided directly on the beach. It was set up like a bar, but served regular meals.

"'Ey Link, one cheeseburger, and two lobsters on the double," Tetra barked, balancing tree full glasses of water with ease.

A chuckle, "please Tetra, it's Toon Link."

"Well I'd prefer Link, it's less uh…I don't know, just get the orders ready," Tetra huffed, smiling none the less. Toon Link smiled back and started his job. Tetra had gotten tired of being the only one out to serve the food, so she had forced Toon Link to do so as well. By the time he finished the food, Tetra was serving, eh…more like flirting with somebody else that hadn't ordered the food he had finished.

Putting on a cheery smile, Toon Link sauntered over to a group of three, a small family with only the mother present, they looked familiar, but whatever it was, Toon Link ignored.

"Hey, I've got your orders, would you like anything else?" he smiled broadly. He thought that it was kind of weird how the blond one was gaping at him, but again, he ignored it. The mother of the two shook her head 'no' and Toon Link left with a bow.

As the night proceeded, Toon Link couldn't help but cast glances over at the blond kid over to his right. He felt familiar, and if he'd forgotten about an old friend, he'd hate himself for it. It would probably break the other's heart since he looked rather fragile.

"Mom, I'm going to the bathroom," Lucas muttered, it being a lie. She nodded merrily and Lucas snuck around the area until he reached Toon Link. "T-Toon Link…" the other perked at his name and turned to look at Lucas.

"Yes?" Lucas' hopes fell rather violently, the tone the other used indicated that he didn't remember who he was. Lucas almost didn't continue, but urged himself to.

"Do…do you remember me?" Lucas asked shyly, placing a hand over his chest. Toon Link stared for a moment before returning to whatever he was doing.

"Um…no, why?" Lucas' heart broke right then and there. Toon Link didn't like how he sounded when he answered and before he knew it, he was chasing after the other who had suddenly turned and run off. "Wait! We knew each other?" he asked frantically, not wanting to hurt this kid. "I-I mean, I don't want to offend you or anything, just…" he trailed off, staring at the other who had begun to cry. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, I'd expect this after two years…" Lucas answered, forcing a smile onto his features.

"A name would be nice," Toon Link smiled back sheepishly, though he knew that Lucas' wasn't real. "I-I think it would jog my memory if I ever knew you…"

"Lucas…Lucas is my name," Lucas answered, praying to whatever higher deity was up there that Toon Link remembered him. Toon Link seemed to roll that word around in his mind before looking extremely apologetic.

"Ah…I'm so sorry, but it doesn't jog anything…" Toon Link dreaded that the other would turn and leave, but he never did.

"Then maybe we could start over…" Toon Link was confused by this statement, but his thoughts were halted as the other boy's lips met his. At first, he wanted to pull away in pure shock, but didn't. "We met…two years ago," Lucas started after separating with the other blond. "I gave you my lunch I think, and then we met again after that and you got hit by a car…" Lucas seemed to struggle to remember everything that had happened a mere two years ago.

"And you helped me," Toon Link smiled, embracing the shorter. Lucas started sniffling before quiet sobs reached the other blonds sensitive ears.

"Please don't leave me ever again…"

"I can't promise that…"

"Then just hold me."

"Gladly."

XXXX

**Yay, I love how I ended this :D So happy :P Well, that's the end of it :( I'm not sure if I'll be writing about these two anymore, if I get a ton of encouragement about it, yeah I might. But other than that, please review, and peace out my friends :) I'll see you somewhere else :)**


End file.
